Reference ranges and Z-scores for fetal cardiac measurements from two-dimensional echocardiography in Asian population

• Published in: PloS one 2020-06, Vol.15 (6), p.e0233179-e0233179
• Main Authors: Lussier, Eric C, Yeh, Shu-Jen, Chih, Wan-Ling, Lin, Shan-Miao, Chou, Yu-Ching, Huang, Szu-Ping, Chen, Ming-Ren, Chang, Tung-Yao, Cavarretta, Elena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Aorta; Arteries; Atria; Atrium; Biology and Life Sciences; Biometrics; Cardiovascular diseases; Circumferences; Community colleges; Computer and Information Sciences; Confidence intervals; Congenital heart defects; Coronary artery disease; Diagnosis; Echocardiography; Femur; Fetal diseases; Fetal monitoring; Fetuses; Gestational age; Heart; Heart diseases; Hospitals; Markers; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Nomograms; Nomographs; Normal distribution; Pediatric research; Pediatrics; Physical Sciences; Population; Population studies; Pregnancy; Research and Analysis Methods; Two-dimensional echocardiography; Ventricle
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233179

Currently available fetal echocardiographic reference values are derived mainly from North American and European population studies, and there is a lack of reference z-score for fetal echocardiographic measurement in Asian populations. The aim of this study was to establish normal ranges of echocardiographic measurements and z-scores in healthy Asian fetuses. A total of 575 healthy pregnant Taiwanese with an estimated gestational age from 14 to 38 weeks were enrolled voluntarily for this observational study. Standard two-dimensional echocardiography was performed to obtain measurements of the cardiac chambers and great arteries of the developing fetuses. In contrast to past studies, our sample was more evenly distributed for estimated gestational age (p